Combined end-gate and shoveling-board



(No M0'del.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

FA'CKLER. COMBINED END GATE AND SHOVELING BOARD.

.No. 537,280. PatentedApr. 9, 1895.

(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 2.

S. PAOKLER. COMBINED END GATE AND SHQVELING BOARD.

1N0.1537,280. PatntedApr.9,1895;

SAMUEL FAOKLER, OF AST ORIA, ILLINOIS.

COMBINED END-GATE AND SHOVELlNG-BOARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 537,280, dated Ap 9, 1895.

Application filed October 4, 1894.

To all? whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SAMUEL FACKLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Astoria, in the countyof Fulton and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Combined End-Gate and Shoveling-Board for Vehicles, and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact specification of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same.

The objects that I have in view in thisinvention are, first, to provide an improved end gate and shoveling board with means which can be universally applied or adapted to wagon bodies of different depths and widths without change in the construction of the hanging devices; secondly, to so construct the joint or connection between the hangers and gate that the latter will be drawn closely or fit tightly to the bottom of the wagon-body; third, to provide improved means whereby the board or gate may be sustained at the desired inclination or pitch and which devices are also capable of adjustment to lock or confine the board or gate, when raised to an upright position, securely in place, and, finally, to-simplify and cheapen the construction so as to make it strong and durable and easy of adjustment and application.

With these and such other ends in view as pertain to my invention, it consists in the combination with a wagon body, of hangers. applied to the sides of the wagon body so as to be retained thereon against movement and each hanger constructed at its upper end with a clamp to take over the upper edge of the side of the wagon body, to sustain the hanger under vertical stress of the end gate or board, and each hanger further provided with a foot which bears upon, and tits over the edge of, the bottom of the wagon body, said pendent foot provided with a hinge hook or eye, and hinge-platesfastened to the edge of an end gate or board and provided with pintles which are fitted in the books or eyes on the pendent feet of the hangers.

To enable the hangers to be applied to wagon bodies which vary in depth, and so that the clamps and feet of said hangers may properly bear upon the floor and top edges of the sides of such different sizes of wagon Serial No. 524,939. (No model.)

bodies, I make the hangers extensible, that is to say, each hanger is made in two sections, one of which members is formed with the foot and-hinge-eye and the other member is formed with the wagon-side-engaging clamp, and the meeting ends of said members are joined adjustably together by a bolt which passes through a slot in one member and an opening in the other member, and said bolt is provided with a binding nut to hold the members of the hangers rigidly together after they have been adjusted to lengthen or shorten the hanger in order to properly fit the depth of the wagon box to which the hanger is to be applied in order to sustain the end gate or board.

My invention further consists in the combination with a wagon body, of the hangers applied thereto and each having its clamp provided with a hook-shaped projection on the outside of the wagon body, a gate hinged to and sustained by said hangers,'plates fastened to the wings of the end gate, rods attached to said plates on the gate or board and arranged to fit over the projection of the hangers so that the books on the ends of the rods will engage with said projections when the gate is lowered so as to sustain the latter, and catches fastened to the wings of the end gate and arranged, when the gate is raised to an upright position, to receive the rods which are sprung around the hook-shaped projections whereby when the gate is raised the rods engage with the hanger projections and with the catches so as to lock the gate in such raised position; and the invention further consists in the novel combination of devices, and in the construction and arrangement of parts which will behereinafter morefully described and defined by the claims.

To enable others to understand my invention, I have illustrated the preferred embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawings,

forming a part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the end gate lowered substantially in line with the bottom of the wagon body, Fig. 2 is a side elevation showing the gate raised to its upright position and also illustrating the adj ustment of the hooked rods to lock the gate in-suchraised position. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view through the body andtheend gate, showing the latter in an inclined pitchedposition relative to the bottom of the wagon body, and also showing the manner of applying the hanger to the inside of the wagon body.

Fig. 4: is a detail perspective view of one body being herein shown, notasapartof my' invention, butto enable others skilled in theart to understand the method ofapplying and using my improvements.

B is the end gate and shoveling board, which consists of the bottom I) and the tapered wings I), Z), all united substantially together to produce a strong and durablestructure; and said wings Z2 extending substantially at right angles to the bottom bso as to project" from one side thereof. This gate or boardis made somewhat wider than thexwagon-bodyto which it is to be applied in-orderthat-the wings 1) may fit or embrace the outside'of the body, andsaid gate Bserves as ashoveling board when it is lowered to an inclined-or substantially horizontal position, seeFigs; 1 and 3, and as a gate to closethe end of the wagon bodywhen raised to the upright position shown by Fig. 2.

In this invention the gate or boardzB isnotr hinged directly to the wagon body, butit is supportedthereon by hangers which permit the gate to be readily detached and whichare themselves removable at willfromthebody of the wagon. These hangers are'showmat C, D, in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and-they are applied to the inner face oftherespective sides of said wagon body A. To-retainthese hangers in place on the sides of thebody A; and against displacement thereon'along the inner faces of the sides, Iapp1y,if tl1eyhave not been previously fastened to thewagonbody, to each side of the body A apair of cleats orstrips a, a, whicharesecured in any desirable way, in parallel positions so i as to leave a groove or recess a between the cleats or strips a, the cleats beingmade fast to the body at or near the rear open end thereof. Between the pair of cleatson eachside ofthe body is fitted the vertical shank of one of the hangers, which shanklies within the exposed faces of the cleats and by which the hanger is held from lateral displacement; and to provide for the proper support of thehanger in a vertical direction against the stress or weight of the gate B and the load thereon, each hanger is formed at its upper end with a clamp E and at its lower end with a foot F," which parts are fitted to rest, respectively, on

the top edge of the wagon side and the rear edge of the wagon bottom.

The clamp E consists of the plate 0, the pendent lug e, the pair of lugs (2 c and the hook shaped projection E. This plate 6 lies at one side of the vertical shank of the hanger, and extends a suitable distance in a direction at right angles to the shank. The lug e depends from one edge of the plate e, opposite to the vertical hanger shank, and the pair of lugs e 2 are arranged to depend from the side edges of the plate at the free end thereof opposite to the lug e and the hanger shank, all of these parts being preferably made or struck up from a flat piece of metal.

The projection'E isintegral with or rigidly securedto one of the ears e on the clamp E, and it has'a horizontal limb which is joined to the ear 6 an d anupright limbwhich is outwardly inclined toward its free extremity. This clamp designed to fit over and embrace the upper edgeof the-side of the wagon body, theplate'e bearing upon the top-edge of the side, and the-earse', e to do against the verti'cal faces ofthe side of saidbodyA, whereby lateral displacement of the clam p is prevented on the side ofthe body, and the projection E iscaused to extend beyond the ontside of the side-of the-body.

The-foot= F at the'lower extremity of the shankof each hanger extends at right angles to-theshank as-atf and thence parallel to the plane of the shank as-atf'to form aboaring-surface which rests upon the bottom of the-body-A and extends to the-rear edge of saidbody; and the-rearex tremityof saidpart f terminates in a pendent hook-or eye f", the vertical rear side of which hook or eye is adapted to bear against the vertical face at the-rearedge of the-body A.

Thehooks or-eyesffonthe hangers C, D, for-imparts of the, hinges or jointsby which the gate-B is conneotedto the wagon body, and in said hooks are fitted the pintles g, g, on the hinge plates G, G, which are fastened to t-hednner or bottom=edge of the gate. In order to bring the inner hinged edge of the gate close t0-tll8 b0tt0lI1 Of the wagon body andto form atclose-joint between said bottom of the body and thegate-both when the gate is lowered and raised, I have provided the notches g", on the lower on inneredge of the board or gate, and the plates G are fastened to the gateso that thepintlesg span thesenotches or'recesses, whereby the hooks or eyes f of the hanger feet are caused to fitin the notches or recesses and, the lower inner edgeof the gateis brought close up-to the rear edge of thetbody-bottom.

It will be evident that-thehangers B, O, can beapplied' to wagon bodies of any width by simply fastening cleats a, a, to the inner sides thereof, ifisaid cleats have not been previously supplied to the wagon-body; then fitting the shanks of the hangers between the cleats and so that the clamps E of the hangers will be over the top'edges of the body sides, and the ICO the body A.

feet F will rest upon and project over the rear edges of the body bottom; and the gate or board Bis made of such width that its wings will embrace the sides of the body, and its hinge plates are so fastened thereto that the pintles will fit in the hooks or eyes of the hangers; but to adapt the hangers to be properly fitted to wagon bodies which vary in depth or height from the bottom to the top edges of the sides, I make these hangers extensible in the direction of their length so that the distance between the clamp E and the foot F of each hanger can be madeto correspond to the depth or height of the side of To the accomplishment of this end,I make the hangerin sections, one section consisting o't'a bar or part of the shank and the foot F and the other section consisting of the shank bar and the clamp E. These bars are designed to lap one another to produce the vertical shank of the hanger, and the overlapping bars of the shank are ad j u'stably fastened together by a bolt or bolts, h. This bolt passesthrough a slot h formed in the bar of the upper member; and through an aperture in the bar of the other member; said bolt provided with a binding nut to draw the bolt and shank bars tightly together after the shank has been adjusted-lengthened or shortenedtc accommodate the clamp and foot of the hanger to the wagon body.

To sustain the gate in its lowered position, and to enable the same to be held in various inclined or pitched positions,I have provided the rods I, I, and the plates J J The plates J, J, are fastened, as by bolts, to the wings I) of.the gate at a suitable place between the ends of the wings, and so that one edge of each plate projects beyond the edge of the wing to which the plate is fastened; and in this projecting edge of the plate is formed a series of apertures j, in either one of which may be fitted the prong 11 formed on one end of the rod I that is designed to engage with the plate J. The rods I are fitted over the hooks or projections E of the hanger clamps and the rods are provided with books *6 at their free ends which, when the gate is lowered, engages with said projections E so as to sustain the gate in its lowered position, which position of the gate is well adapted to serve as a shoveling board in removing the load from the vehicle. When the prongs'i of the sustaining rods are fitted in holes of the plates J near the inner ends thereof toward the hinge joints between the gate andhangers, the gate can be lowered to a position substantially in line with the'bottom of the body as indicated in Fig. l; but in order to give the gatea pitch or incline when lowered, the rods I'are adjusted so that the prongs t'thereof engage with the perforated plates farther away from the projections E and the hinges. See Fig. 3. By adjusting the rods to engage the plates J at different points the board can be given the desired pitch or incline suitable for shoveling the load from the body, and at the same time the board or gate fits closely to the body bottom because hinge eyes f fit in the notched edge of the board or gate.

Catches K, K, are fastened to the sloping edges of thetapered wings bnear the wide ends thereof, and these catches project beyond the outside faces of the wings so as to enable the sustaining rods I to be sprung over them when the gate is raised. As the gate is turned up to a vertical position against the open end of the body A, the rods I are turned on the prongs t' and moved aroundthe projections E so that the rods assume a vertical position with the gate, and as the rods are made of metal, they have a certain degree of elasticity which enables them to be sprung around the catches, so that the rods engage the projections E, the catches K and the plates J, whereby the rods serve to lock or confine the gate in its raised position.

It is thought that the operation and advantages of my improved end gate and shoveling board will be readily understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art from the foregoing description taken in connection with the drawings without further explanation.

I am aware that changes in the form and proportion of parts and details of construction of the devices herein shown and described asan embodiment of my invention may be made by a skilled mechanic without departing from the spirit or sacrificing the advantages of my invention, and I therefore reserve the right to make such modifications and alterations as fairly fall within the scope of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination with a wagon body, of vertical hangers each provided at its upper end with a clamp E and at its lower end with a rearwardly extending foot F, and an endgate hung to the feet F of said hangers, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. The combination with a wagon body, and the cleats thereon, of the vertical hangers each having its shank fitted between a pair of cleats on said wagon-body, each hanger provided at its upper end with a laterally-projecting clamp E, and further provided, at the lower end, with the rearwardly-extending foot F, and an endgate hung to said feet of the hangers, substantially as and for the purposes 'described. a

3. The vertical hangers provided with the rearwardly-extending feet F which are formed with the pintle-receiving loops, in combina- ,tion with a wagon body over the rear edge of which the feet F are fitted, an end-gate, and hinge-plates provided with the pintles which are fitted in the loops of said hanger-feet, substantially as and for the purposes described.

' 4:. The combination with a wagon body, and an end gate, of the perforated plate J attached IIO to said end gate, the fixed projection E on the Wagon body, the catch K fastened to the end gate at one side of the plate J, and the rod I ad j ustably and pivotally attached to the plate J and adapted, when the gate is closed, to be sprung around the catch K, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a body,ot' hangers provided with feet and With clamps which carry the projections E, a gate hinged to the feet and provided with the catches K, and rods attached to the gate and adapted to engage the projections E and the catches K, substantially as described.

6. An end gate hanger comprising the vertical shank, a foot F which extends beyond the line of the shank, and a clamp E arranged at one side of the shank, substantially as described, for the purposes set forth.

7. An extensible end-gate hanger made in sections which are adjustably held together, one section provided with a clamp, and the other section having a bearing foot, substantially as and for the purposes described.

8. The combination with a body having vertical retainers of extensible hangers fitted between said cleats and each having a clamp at its upper end and a bearing foot at the lower end, and a gate hinged to said feet of the hangers, substantially as described.

SAMUEL FAOKLER. lVitnesses:

THOMAS F. M CLAREN, JAMEs ROLAND. 

